SUNDAY DRIVE: MATUNUCK OYSTER BAR

What to do on a gorgeous, sunny, late-winter Sunday afternoon? Head to Matunuck Oyster Bar (629 Succotash Road, Matunuck, South Kingstown  401-783-4202), add your name to the list, enjoy the crisp air or squeeze up to the indoor raw-bar and sample oysters while you wait for a table (inside or out - deck has windshields and heaters). 

Better yet, do all this during the week and avoid the crowd. In summer, I'm told, having lunch at 3:00 p.m. is the way to minimize wait time.

My friend was first virtuous, eating a dozen raw oysters (Matunuck's own and some local R.I. imports), for a first course, then wicked, consuming more bivalves, this time fried, with the usual accompaniments. A happy camper. It was Narragansett restaurant week and the $20.13 offerings (items like chowders, lobster rolls and large over-the-top desserts) were popular and the patrons looked content. Tables are close so you notice that a lot of oysters are consumed but salmon entrees and lobster rolls aren't far behind. In the mood for a big fish sandwich (each time I have one there is always a comparison to a certain grouper sandwich in Southport, North Carolina), I ordered one and gave it plus points for having a smallish, soft bun but minus points for the fish itself which was only so-so. Still, I'm game to return in a few days and give it another go.

Matunuck Oyster Bar is not the place you go for poached sole with asparagus. This is a fish joint. Keep to the diet by sticking to the raw bar; dine in healthy middle-ground with salmon; set off the fat alarms with fried oysters. Up to you. It's fun. Me, I am not tempted by the desserts (which look anything but delicate) because the goal is to eat oysters and fish by the water. And that's enough.

Open seven days: Sunday - Thursday, 11:30 - 9:00, Friday and Saturday, 11:30 - 10:00

www.rhodyoysters.com